Momentum growing for ‘Coldest Night’ walk
It may have been called the “Coldest Night of the Year” walk, but it was filled with warm hearts, and with those who genuinely care for the community’s homeless, poor and vulnerable.
The annual fundraiser walk took place Saturday night at the Exhibition grounds, and had about 180 people participating. The money raised during the walk goes to help the Streets Alive Mission continue the important work in feeding, clothing and providing services for those who are homeless or impoverished in Lethbridge.
An important aspect to the walk, besides raising funds, is the heightening of awareness of the hardships facing the city’s poor.
“We hear from a lot of people on the streets, something has to change,” says Marie McLennan, associate director of philanthropy for the Streets Alive Mission.
“They are as scared of the opiod crisis as most people are, and they are living it all the time ... With this event, you can be out in the cold for an hour and maybe understand a little the plight of the people who are out on the street 24 hours per day.”
Fiona Doherty and her group “Friends for Friends” have been coming out each of the past seven years since “Coldest Night of the Year” started in Lethbridge. She whole-heartedly agrees with McLennan.
“This is something which is often overlooked within the community,” she says. “This a group of people who are the most vulnerable and in need of help.”
Faith was another important aspect for many of those coming out. Jeremy Light serves as pastor for the Evangelical Free Church of Lethbridge. He says many of his congregation help out at the Streets Alive Mission, and are motivated to walk to put their beliefs into practice.
“We follow the teachings of Jesus,” he says. “And he had a huge concern for those who needed support in his own time.”
It’s a perspective the Streets Alive Mission’s co-founder Ken Kissick certainly echoes, but he also adds the “Coldest Night of the Year” walk has grown exponentially in the community since its humble and chilly beginnings. He takes it as a sign the broader message of seeing to the needs of the city’s impoverished is a mission for everyone, not just those in local churches.
“I am stoked to the max (by this year’s turnout),” Kissick says. “We were one of the original cities in when they first started this event. I think that year we had 25 walkers; so this is just great. More and more of the community is buying into it, and it is a bigger thing nationally. There is 125 communities with almost 20,000 walkers across the nation. All walking to raise awareness for poverty.”
This year’s “Coldest Night of the Year” walk raised nearly $50,000.
Follow @TimKalHerald on Twitter.